Metabolic health measurements of shift workers in a national cross-sectional study: Results from the Canadian Health Measures Survey

Workplace violence, work characteristics, and seniority levels among nurses: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Workplace violence (WPV) is a widespread phenomenon in healthcare systems and an increasingly severe occupational health and safety issue. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of WPV among novice and senior nurses and to explore the associations between this factor and various types of workplace violence, workplace characteristics, and professional seniority levels while simultaneously identifying relevant risk factors.

METHODS

The participants in this cross-sectional descriptive survey study were recruited via a convenience sampling approach between February and May 2021. The sample ultimately included 1000 full-time registered nurses who were recruited from a medical center in Taiwan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect participants' experiences of workplace violence. A variety of data were collected, including demographic characteristics, work characteristics, WPV experiences, job control, workplace justice, and psychological job demands. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were used in this research.

RESULTS

Nearly 50% of the nurses experienced at least one episode of workplace violence in the last 12 months. Among the types of workplace violence, verbal violence had the highest prevalence, followed by physical violence. High psychological job demands and low workplace justice were associated with workplace violence. After adjustment for demographic characteristics and psychosocial work conditions, novice nurses were more likely to experience workplace violence, particularly psychological violence, than senior nurses were.

CONCLUSIONS

Workplace violence is prevalent among Taiwanese nurses, in which context novice nurses are particularly vulnerable. Addressing high levels of psychological job demands and enhancing workplace justice can help mitigate workplace violence. Effective policies are needed to empower nurses and reduce violence.

IMPACT

Our findings highlight the persistence of workplace violence among nurses, indicating a need to promote healthier work environments. These results offer insights that nurse leaders and policymakers can use to improve workplace characteristics by promoting work autonomy, establishing a safe culture, and ensuring effective violence management, thereby potentially mitigating nurses' exposure to workplace violence and reducing their turnover intentions.

Nightshift Work and Nighttime Eating Are Associated With Higher Insulin and Leptin Levels in Hospital Nurses

Background

Circadian misalignment between behaviors such as feeding and endogenous circadian rhythms, particularly in the context of shiftwork, is associated with poorer cardiometabolic health. We examined whether insulin and leptin levels differ between dayshift versus nightshift nurses, as well as explored whether the timing of food intake modulates these effects in nightshift workers.

Methods

Female nurses (N=18; 8 dayshift and 10 nightshift) completed daily diet records for 8 consecutive days. The nurses then completed a 24-h inpatient stay, during which blood specimens were collected every 3 h (beginning at 09:00) and meals were consumed at regular 3-h intervals (09:00, 12:00, 15:00, and 18:00). Specimens were analyzed for insulin and leptin levels, and generalized additive models were used to examine differences in mean insulin and leptin levels.

Results

Mean insulin and leptin levels were higher in nightshift nurses by 11.6 ± 3.8 mU/L (p=0.003) and 7.4 ± 3.4 ng/ml (p=0.03), respectively, compared to dayshift nurses. In an exploratory subgroup analysis of nightshift nurses, predominately eating at night (21:00 - 06:00) was associated with significantly higher insulin and leptin levels than consuming most calories during the daytime (06:00 - 21:00).

Conclusions

In our study of hospital nurses, working the nightshift was associated with higher insulin and leptin levels, and these effects were driven by eating predominately at night. We conclude that although nightshift work may raise insulin and leptin levels, eating during the daytime may attenuate some of the negative effects of nightshift work on metabolic health.